Second-place finisher Jay Banks, who reportedly lost by seven votes, sent shock waves through the century-old Carnival organization this week by charging that election day irregularities may have cost him a victory.

Zulu members ratified James’ May 29 election on Sunday. Banks said Monday that he supports the decision and he will not press the issue further.

“The brotherhood of Zulu is as strong as ever,” Banks said in an email message. “I wholeheartedly support our 2012 King Elroy James.”

James, Zulu’s finance chairman who was making his first bid for royalty, will reign over the club’s annual Fat Tuesday parade on Feb. 21.

Banks, the membership director for the Dryades YMCA, had alleged that about a dozen absentee ballots requested by members who could not vote in person last Sunday were never received.

At a special Zulu Social Aid and Pleasure Club board meeting last Wednesday, he made a personal appeal for those ballots to be counted but board members voted 19-4 to reject his request.

Banks has run unsuccessfully for Zulu king twice in the past.

Zulu, one of New Orleans’ premier Carnival organizations, has employed a uniquely democratic process to pick its king since the group was formed in 1909.

While many old-line Carnival organizations rely on lineage and social pedigree to choose their royalty under a shroud of secrecy, Zulu encourages would-be monarchs to wine and dine members during a months-long campaign that traditionally culminates with a lavish street party on the Sunday before Memorial Day.

Voting machines overseen by staffers from the secretary of state’s office are brought to the club’s North Broad Street headquarters to stage elections for Zulu king and several other positions. The club currently has 600 or so voting members.